I'm Dying 4: Flu Miseries
by Eileen
Summary: Fourth in the I'm Dying series! Let me know if you want a fifth one. This is the Father's Day episode. Enjoy!
1. Poor Toady

I'M DYING 4: FLU MISERIES

(Fourth in the "I'm Dying!" series. Based on an RPG I was in for a time. This time I kept the number of sick people small and easy to manage.)

It was a weekday afternoon, and the X-Men were spending a few hours at the Bayville Mall.  
So, unfortunately, were the Brotherhood.

Inevitably, a fight broke out . . .

It had been such a nice day too, thought Toad. He'd gotten a lot of shopping done, and for once he'd actually had the money to pay for it.

But the X-Geeks just had to come along and spoil everything . . .

"Leave Kitty alone, you--you rock-head!" Kurt shouted at Lance.

"Rock-head, huh?" Lance smirked. "That's funny coming from a stupid blue geek!"  
"Vell, at least I'm on zhe same side as her!"  
"You think you and her--? Forget it, Fuzzy, she only likes bad boys!"

"Both of you SHUT UP!" Todd's head was suddenly spinning, and he felt like he might faint. Nobody noticed. They were too busy arguing.  
Finally Brenda noticed that Todd was being unusually quiet. "Todd?"

He tried to speak, but nothing came out. Everything seemed really far away all of a sudden . . . and his head was throbbing.

It took a few minutes for the fighting to die down, but soon, order was restored.

"Come on, guys, let's go home," said Evan. "We got better things to do than—"

Toad let out a moan, and then all of a sudden, started to vomit. He wasn't actually **aiming for anyone's shoes . . . but he hit Kitty's anyway.**

"Eeeewwwwww! Like, gross!"

"I can't help it . . ." Toad mumbled.

"We should get you home," Brenda said.

The other X-Men looked at her. "Ve?" Kurt said.

"Oh, come on, we can't **leave him here like this!"**

"Sure we can," said Evan. "He probably just ate too many bugs or something. He'll be okay."

Brenda looked down at Todd, who was rocking back and forth and moaning. "We can't just let him suffer!"

Scott sighed. "All right," he said. "You do what you have to do. But call us if there's a problem."

"Right."

So she went with Todd back to the Brotherhood's house.  
  
It was a mess. And that was being generous . . .

"Don't you ever clean up around here?"

"Too busy," Todd said.

She cleared some stuff on the couch and helped him lie down. "How's that?"

"Hot . . ." he gasped.

Brenda didn't like how he sounded.

She found a throw that had clearly seen better days and tucked it around him.

"Thanks, Brenda."

"Do you want me to make you some soup?"  
"I don't know if I could eat . . ."

"Can you try?"

He groaned, and then started shivering all over. Brenda grabbed more blankets.

"I wonder where everyone else is," she thought absently.

Everyone else was coming through the front door . . . and they went straight for the TV.

"Hold it!" Brenda blurted, making them freeze in their tracks.

"What? Fear Factor's on!"

"It's Todd! He's sick!" Brenda told them.

"No kidding! We were there, remember? Almost got splattered!" Lance shuddered at the memory.

"I mean really sick!" She grabbed Lance's hand. "Feel how hot he is!"

"I'm not touching him!"

She pressed his hand against Toad's forehead anyway.

"Ow! You're right, he is hot!"

Boiling hot, it turned out.

"We should call a doctor."  
"Oh, yeah, right. Like we have the money for that."  
"We have to do something!"

Toad kept moaning . . .

Just then there was a knock on the door.  
"Somebody get that!"

It was Kitty.

"Hi, Lance," she said. "You forgot this." She held out his book bag.

"Thanks," Lance said, and started to close the door. Then he remembered about Toad...

Kitty saw the look on his face and immediately rushed inside.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Then she saw Todd on the couch. "He looks awful..."

"I don't know, but I think we need to get him some help."

As if to underscore the point, Todd threw up.

"Eeewwww! Not again!"  
"I can't . . . can't help it," Todd moaned.

At least he had spared her shoes this time . . .

Lance got a mop and bucket. For once, the lack of carpeting in the living room worked in their favor. He didn't even want to think about what he would have had to do to get it out of carpet.

"Maybe you should, like, take him to our place," Kitty suggested.  
They all looked at her as if she was insane.

"And have your professor scramble his brains?" Pietro answered disdainfully.

"Well, you guys probably don't have any medicines or anything. I'm just trying to help."

Pietro had to admit she had a point. "We'll take a vote."

However, before they could even raise their hands, Todd made the decision for them . . .

"Not again!"

Kitty called the professor.

A short while later, the X-Van showed up.

"What's goin' on?" Toad asked.

"We're getting you some much-needed medical attention." Brenda was relieved the burden was off her now. 

"You're not gonna scramble my brains, are you?"

"No, of course not," Kitty said.

"Good, cause my stomach's scrambled enough already," he groaned.

Some time later, Toad was lying on a gurney in the Mansion's medical ward, wishing he'd never been born.

"Somebody make the room stop spinning . . ." he groaned.

Presently someone walked in . . . with one of Brenda's books. "Mind if I read to you for a bit?"

It was that Ororo woman. "Just not too loud, OK?" Toad said.

"The doctor will be here to look at you soon."

"I hope he's not too late . . ."

Meanwhile, back at the Brotherhood house . . . things were not going well.  
The strange virus had struck another victim.  
"No! I'm too good-looking to die!" Pietro wailed.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

(Note to riye, who asked for more romance: which couple did you mean? I aim to please, so just tell me and I'll do my best to satisfy you . . .)


	2. See, I'm NOT A Hypochondriac!

I'M DYING 4: FLU MISERIES

Chapter 2

"No! I'm too good-looking to die!" Pietro wailed.

"Yeah, right." Lance snickered.

"I'm gonna kill Toad for giving me his crummy germs!"

"How do you know it wasn't the other way around?"

Pietro just glared at him.

"Maybe we should take you to where Toad is, so you can get better," Fred suggested.

"Where's Toad?"

"They took him to the doctor at the X-Geeks' mansion. I guess they ask less questions than a regular hospital."

"WHAT?!!"

"Look, we don't have a choice, okay?" Lance had no patience for the speedster's hysterics. "We don't have money for a doctor. It's that or . . ." 

"I don't want them messing with my mind!"

"Like that would take much work," Lance muttered under his breath. Pietro heard him anyway.

"If I could get up," he growled, "I would hurt you."

"Hey, it's not my fault you're a dweeb."

"Nobody says dweeb anymore."

"So sue me."

"Should we take him or not?" Fred demanded.

"What'll the Boss Lady say?"

"We can't wait around for her! By the time she comes home, he could be dead!"

"Let's just hope she doesn't kill us when she finds out." Lance said finally.

"Who's killing whom?" Wanda said. She had been in the kitchen doing her homework. "Oh, no. What's wrong?"

"I'm dying," Pietro groaned.

"No," Lance said, "he's not dying. Don't fall for that. He's such a hypochondriac . . ."

Pietro glared at him. "I am not!"

She had to laugh. "You know you are!"

"No, I'm NOT!"

"Nobody can yell that loudly and be dying," Lance said. "You're just bored."

"I--AM-- DYING." Pietro insisted.

He made a strange gargling noise after the last word, and suddenly . . . "BLLLEAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHH!"

He managed to completely miss the basin beside him. However, he hit the floor dead center.

"Maybe he is dying," Fred said, looking down at the mess. There sure was a lot of it. Nobody could eat that much, could they? Except for—

"Get a mop," Wanda instructed.   
Nobody moved.  
"What are you waiting for, an encore? Move it!"

Wanda knelt down by her brother's side. "I guess you weren't faking after all. How're you feeling, Boo?"

"Like I'm gonna die." Pietro groaned.

She laid a gentle hand on his forehead. "You're burning up."  
"See?"

"When's the last time you had your temperature taken?"

"Umm . . . never."  
She looked at him.  
"What? I hate thermometers . . ."

"Well, get over it." She rummaged around in the medicine cabinet until she found one, and brought it over. "Open up."  
Pietro stubbornly clamped his mouth shut.  
"Come on!"

Reluctantly Pietro opened his mouth.

She placed it under his tongue and looked at her watch. "I'll be back in two minutes," she said.  
His eyes went wide. Two whole minutes? That was, like, forever!

 Worse, he thought he might barf again.

Finally, however, the two minutes were up . . .

Wanda took the thermometer out and looked at it. Then she turned it upside down and looked at it again.

"What? What is it?"

She showed him the thermometer. It was blank.  
"What does that mean?" he asked. "Am I dead?"

Then the red digits blinked to life. They flickered back and forth and finally settled on 95.2 degrees.

"It means you've got a chill."

"Huh?"

"Your body is cold because of the flu . . ."

"I don't get it . . ." He would have said more if he hadn't broken into a huge coughing fit at that moment.

Wanda got him another blanket. She didn't like the way it smelled, but it would have to do for now. "We should get you to a doctor."

"Can't I just die here?"

"You're not going to die." She then picked up the phone . . .

"Wait!" said Fred, who was wringing out the mop, but she didn't hear him.

Wanda was already talking to the doctor's office. 

"You don't see mutants?" She was in shock. "But my brother--"

"I'm sorry," the voice on the other end of the phone said. "We don't mean to be biased, but we have no experience dealing with mutant patients. I wish I could help you--"  
Wanda slammed the phone down with uncharacteristic fury. "I'm beginning to think Father was right," she spat. "They do hate us."

Then she thought of something. "What about that place where we took Todd?"

"The X-Geeks' place?" Lance said, ignoring Fred's glare. "We can't!"  
"Why not? We won't have to waste time explaining everything. Besides, Todd's already there; they probably expect the rest of us to all get sick too."  
"The rest of us?" Was it Lance's imagination, or was there just the tiniest tickle in the back of his throat?

"Yeah."

"Maybe we should wait till the Boss Lady gets back . . ." Fred said. Mystique was at school doing her parent/teacher conferences.  
Normally the conferences were on Wednesdays, but due to an unforeseen emergency (involving her car, several gallons of Super Glue, feathers, and rubber bands—but that's another story), she'd been forced to move it to Thursday.  
"We can leave a note for her."

"No, somebody should wait . . ."

"Why am I always the one?" Fred protested.

Finally, Pietro said, "Can we just go before I die?"

"Okay, Boo." She wrapped the blankets around him; they seemed to be helping, as he was starting to feel warmer.

"Why do you call him that?" Lance asked. Darn it, there was something in the back of his throat.

"Well--"

Suddenly the phone rang.

Wanda, handing Pietro over to Lance, said, "Hello?"

On the other end of the phone, a very angry voice said "Who took my pen?!"

"Who's this?"  
"You know perfectly well who it is! That was an expensive pen, not some 99-cent ballpoint! I want it returned by the time I come home or--"

"Whoa! Calm down, Mystique!"

There was a long pause. Then Mystique said in a lower voice, "Somebody gave me that pen. It's irreplaceable. I want it back."  
"Okay, I'll get it back. But we're on our way out now, so--"  
"Out? Out where?"

"Uh . . ." Wanda realized that Mystique probably didn't even know Toad was sick, let alone Pietro. She quickly filled her in.

"They're both sick?"

"Looks that way."  
"Great. This is, what, the fifth time in as many months? Why does this always happen?"  
"Hey, don't yell at me! I'm trying to help!"

"Sorry."

That was something. Mystique had never apologized to them--or, as far as they knew, to anyone--but she had a kind of respect for Wanda.

"Anyway, see what you can do about finding my pen . . ."

"I will." Wanda hung up the phone and said, "Okay, let's go."  
  
Things weren't so bad here, Toad thought. He'd been here (how long has he been here?), and no one had tried to dissect him yet. They had taken his temperature . . . but that was about it.

Their doctor came back in. "Well, that's about it," he said. "All I can do now is make sure you get plenty of rest and fluids. Shouldn't be a problem . . . as long as you stay here."  
"Don't worry, I ain't goin' nowhere." He had tried getting up earlier, only to find that his legs wouldn't hold him.

"I just hope you guys got some fresh bugs, yo."

The doctor opened his mouth, but before he could reply someone came in.  
"Excuse me, but . . . there's someone here to see you."

"Who?"

Wanda came in carrying Pietro, who had fallen asleep in the car. "He's sick . . ."

"Not another one!"

(To be continued! Not sure if there will be any romance, for reasons that will become clear later on. Maybe I can squeeze some in at the end. See you soon!)


	3. This Isn't Good . . .

I'M DYING 4: FLU MISERIES

Chapter 3

"Not another one!"  
"What do you mean, another one? You mean besides Toad?"  
The doctor nodded and gestured to Lance, who had passed out in the doorway behind them.  
"Great."

Toad looked at Wanda. "Sorry."  
"For what?"  
"You know . . ."

"Ohhh . . ."

"I found it!" someone called from the doorway. "They had it shelved in the wrong section . . ."

"Had what?" Wanda asked.

"Bring it in here!" Toad called out.

Brenda came in, carrying one of her books. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the others.  
"Oh, dear," she said. "Not another epidemic. Should I call the hospital and have them prepare some rooms?"

Toad nodded.

"No, that's all right," Wanda said. "As long as they're isolated here, the virus can't spread . . ."  
"Isolated?"  
"The doctor said this room is officially quarantined."

At the mention of the word "quarantined", Brenda looked alarmed. A quarantine usually meant something serious.  
"I thought it was just the flu," she said.  
"Yes, but we don't want anyone else getting it."

"I guess we'll have plenty of time to read Eric*, then."  
Pietro woke up. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"Long story."

"What's on top of me? An elephant?"  
"Just a few blankets."  
"Blankets? I'm boiling! I don't need any--" He started to toss them aside, and then started coughing his head off.

Wanda draped the blankets back over him. "Easy. You just rest now . . ."

He mumbled something.  
"What was that?"

"I'm cold." Funny how a minute ago he'd been complaining he was too hot, and now . . .

"Okay." She got another blanket. It looked like this chill was worse than the last; he was shaking so hard it looked like he was having a fit.  
She looked over. Toad was listening to Brenda read him a story, and Lance was still sleeping.

Brenda broke off and asked if Wanda needed anything.

She looked around. She hadn't heard the doctor leave, but he was gone.

"You could get me some ice water." Wanda replied.

"Okay."   
Then Brenda remembered the quarantine. For the safety of everyone else living in the mansion, she probably wouldn't be allowed to leave the room. She mentioned this to Wanda.

"Try the intercom."  
"Intercom?"

"Yeah." Wanda pointed at the wall. "It's right behind you."

"All right." She went over to it. There was a little red button beside the grille, and she pushed it. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Hi, Brenda. It's me, Rogue."

"Could you bring us some water? And maybe some food?"  
At the mention of food, Toad sat up and said, "I don't think any of us are in much of an eating mood right now."

Lance was still sleeping. In fact, Wanda had to check him with a mirror to make sure he was still breathing.

Someone came with some water and a little bit of food . . . and gently nudged him awake.

"Lance?"  
He opened his eyes . . . and saw Wanda standing beside his bed.

"Huh? Where am I?"  
"We brought you to the X-Men's mansion to get taken care of. You've picked it up, too."  
Lance groaned. "Figures. Anyone call and check on Fred?"

"I did that right before I came up here." Wanda told him. "He's fine. Mystique's keeping an eye on him."

"Just hope he's not eating her out of house and home."

Wanda took a thermometer from the drawer. "Open up."  
"What? Oh, no!"  
"Come on, don't be such a baby!"  
"I'm not! I just--just want to sleep."  
"You can sleep in two minutes. Now open."

Reluctantly, Lance opened his mouth.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"  
She glanced over at her brother, who was taking small sips of water (only small sips, she'd told him; any more and he might throw up again). "I'll be back," she said.

Pietro looked up at his sister. "I'm hot again," he said.  
She could see the sweat glistening on his face. "Poor Boo," she murmured, adjusting the covers over him.

"Got any ice?"

"I'll see if I can get some," she promised, knowing that by the time she did, he'd be having chills again.

At the Brotherhood house, Fred was bored.  
No one to talk to. Nothing good on TV. And he'd eaten everything that wasn't nailed down already.  
Mystique came home just then . . . and had a fit when she noticed the empty refrigerator.

"You ate everything?"  
"Well, nobody else is here!"  
"What? Where'd they all go?"  
"To the X-Geeks' place. They all got sick--well, except Wanda, but she's gotta stay and look after the rest of them."

Mystique froze. "They went where?" Wanda had said she was getting them help, but she had somehow left that part out of it.

"They were really sick, and we don't have money for a doctor or anything." Fred explained.  
Well, that at least was true. She knew Magnus was loaded--he owned property both in this country and in Europe--but she was lucky to get a living allowance out of him.

If only . . .

There you go thinking again, said the nasty little voice in her head. You know what happens when you think too much . . .

Shut up, she told the voice.

She got her coat.  
"Where are you going?" Fred asked.  
"I'm going over to see them, where else?"

"Can you get ice cream?"

She rolled her eyes. "Get your own ice cream!"

"You don't have to yell at me." Fred protested at Mystique closed the door.

Wanda stared worryingly at the thermometer she had just removed from Lance's mouth. It read: 104.2 degrees.

"Oh no . . ."

"What? Am I dying?" He strained to see the thermometer. When he saw the numbers, his eyes widened. "That's not good, is it?"  
"No, it isn't."  
Wanda went to the intercom and thumbed the button. "If anyone can hear me . . . I need the doctor in here right away."

"Who is it? Lance?"

"Yes, how did you know?"  
"Look up, right behind you."  
Wanda turned and looked. The blinking red eye of a camera stared back at her.

"You weren't spying on us,were you?" Wanda asked nervously.

"No, of course not."

"Sorry." Wanda said. "I get nervous when I think I'm being watched."  
"We're sending the doctor right down to you," the unseen voice told her. She didn't know the X-Men well enough to be able to figure out who it was.

Lance just lay on the table.

Wanda went to him. "They're sending the doctor," she said. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

She then went to look at her brother.

"I'm gonna die," he moaned.  
"You won't die." She checked his temperature . . . and found that it was almost as high as Lance's.

"Brenda?" she asked. "How are you doing with Todd?"

"Not good." Brenda sighed. "He's developed chills, and he's vomiting at least once every fifteen minutes . . ."

"Good thing the doctor's coming--" She took another look at Brenda, who suddenly looked very pale. "Are you all right?"

"It's nothing--"

Wanda came over and put a hand on the other girl's forehead. She was burning up, but didn't even know it. Even when Wanda helped her lie down, she insisted, "I'm fine."

"I don't think so," Wanda said, "but we'll know for sure when the doctor gets here."  
  
It seemed like a long time till he finally showed up . . . but when he did, he didn't look happy.

(Next chapter coming soon! Sorry there's no romance, riye, but you can see why now, I hope. Go read _Mindshadow—I've just updated!)_

*Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, in which a demonology hacker inadvertantly calls up the inept wizard Rincewind instead.


	4. It's Gonna Be A Long Two Weeks!

I'M DYING 4: FLU MISERIES

Chapter 4

It seemed like a long time till the doctor finally showed up, but when he did, he didn't look happy.  
"What have we got here? One . . . two . . . three . . . four cases?"  
Wanda nodded. "Brenda just got it."  
"I see. Who would you say is the worst off right now?"

"Lance Alvers."

"And he would be . . .?"  
"Right here." She led him over to Lance's side. The boy was trembling all over, his eyes closed.

The doctor began by checking his pulse.

"Hmm . . ." he said. Then he checked Lance's temperature. It was still very high.  
"How long has he been like this?"  
"Just after we arrived, I think."

The doctor shook his head. "I was afraid of that . . ."

"We've been isolated here ever since, so no one else gets it . . ."  
"Right." The doctor looked toward the door, obviously expecting a flood of new arrivals . . . but no one came. For once, the quarantine worked.

"Got any water, yo?" said Toad.

Wanda brought him some. "Take it slowly," she said.  
"But I'm thirsty!"

"You don't want to choke, do you?"

"I won't!"  
"What have we here?" The doctor came over to take a look at him.  
Toad's eyes widened in fear. "Don't hurt me, yo!"

Wanda came over. "Lance is throwing up again."

There was exactly one basin in the room . . . and it was full already.

"I'll get it." Brenda got a second one, then went to Toad . . . but never made it. Her legs gave out halfway (never mind that she shouldn't have been up at all), sending Wanda rushing to her side.

"Here, I've got you." She helped the other girl back to her bed and got her a cold compress.

The doctor finished examining all four teens a little less than an hour later . . . and the results weren't good.

"I think you know this is pretty serious," he began.

"How serious?" asked Wanda.

"You're all going to have to stay put for about two weeks."  
" **Two weeks?" Pietro exclaimed. "Two ****whole weeks?" He couldn't believe it.**

"At least. Probably less in your case, but I wouldn't go running off just yet."

Pietro fell back on the bed. "What am I going to do for two weeks?"

"I don't know," Wanda said, "but it had better not have anything to do with Mr. Rabbit."

"What's wrong with Mr. Rabbit?"

"From what I've heard," she said, "a lot."  
He was about to answer when a cell phone rang.

"Whose phone is that?"  
Everyone looked around.

"I didn't bring mine," Pietro said.

"It's mine," the doctor told them. "I'll just be a minute . . ." He stepped out of the room.  
There was a long, painful silence.

"So," Lance said, "you never told me why you call him Boo."

"It's a long story." Wanda said. "Back when we were kids . . ."

"Don't tell him!"

"Why not?" Wanda looked at her brother as if he'd grown a second head. 

"It's . . . kind of embarrassing."

"Now I definitely want to hear," said Toad.

Pietro gave him an evil look, but he didn't catch it.

The door burst open suddenly. "I'm sorry," the doctor said, "but I'm needed back at the hospital. There's been a fire."

"A fire?"  
"At the hospital?"  
"Is anybody hurt?"  
The kids were all talking at once. (Those that were able to talk, that is.)

Wanda whistled for silence, and the doctor continued. "No, it was in a building downtown. Sixteen people were injured. The hospital needs all the help it can get."  
"We'll be fine," Wanda assured him.

"We will?" Pietro wasn't so sure.

As soon as the doctor had gone . . . several things happened.

Lance was sick again. While Wanda was trying to clean that up, Brenda started getting the shakes.

So she went to get another blanket . . . only to see Toad join Lance in a round of competitive retching.

There were no basins left. She'd either have to rinse one out . . . or else keep a mop handy. It was going to be a fun two weeks.

"I'm gonna die." Toad groaned.

"Only if you're lucky," Wanda sighed.

"And if I'm not?"

She didn't answer him . . . which worried Toad no end.

"Give it to me straight: how bad is it?" he demanded. "Am I dying or what?"

"What?" If she lived to be two hundred, she'd never understand boys. One little sniffle or upset stomach, and they thought they were dying. You didn't hear Brenda complaining! Girls know how to take it like a--well, like a woman!

Toad, meanwhile, thought Wanda didn't know the first thing about real pain . . . and he couldn't be more wrong.

Mystique, meanwhile, had showed up at the Xavier Institute, looking for answers.

"But why can't I talk to them?" she demanded. "Is it that bad?"

"I'm afraid so." said Xavier. "I've had the medical ward quarantined to prevent it spreading to the other students . . ."  
Just then, Kurt came in . . .

Xavier turned. "Kurt? What's wrong?"  
The boy didn't look good . . . like he might collapse any second.

"For zhe love of Gott," he gasped, "don't eat at zhe Clam Palace."  
**Then he collapsed.**

"KURT!"

(Ooh, cliffhanger! Don't worry, we're working as hard as we can on Chapter 5, and will get it up as soon as possible. I won't leave you hanging long!)


	5. Don't Eat the Seafood

I'M DYING 4: FLU MISERIES

Chapter 5

**"KURT!"**

They couldn't put him in the medical ward because of the quarantine, so he was taken to the hospital. Mystique insisted on going with him.

"Muzzer . . ."

She took a good look at him. Under his blue skin, he was turning pale. Was it just food poisoning, or could it be . . . something worse?

They'd find out soon enough.

In the meantime, the patients at the X-Mansion were getting restless.

"When can we eat?" said Toad.  
Lance groaned. "Sometime around next Christmas, I think."

"If we're lucky," Brenda sighed.

"Don't even mention food!" Pietro groaned. He was looking slightly green, and his temperature was on an upswing again. In fact, it was so high now it was entering the brain-frying range.

"Uhhhhhhhh . . ." Fred groaned.

He had eaten his way through an entire bag of cheese curls, two boxes of frozen pizza, a package of cookies, and some leftover takeout food in the back of the fridge--he thought it was some kind of seafood. Clams or something.  
Now it was starting to catch up with him.

Oh **man, was it catching up with him!**

He just barely made it to the bathroom before everything came up . . . was it gross!  
And where was Mystique? How could she just go off and leave him alone while he was--  
The phone rang.  
Fred couldn't move until the fourth ring, and then the machine kicked in. When the greeting message was finished playing, he heard Mystique's voice.  
"Fred? Are you there? Pick up." There was a pause. "Okay, I just wanted to let you know I may be a while . . ."

"Oh, no." Fred groaned.

"I'm at the hospital . . ."  
"Take me with you." Of course she couldn't hear him, but he answered her anyway.  
"I probably won't be home for another hour or two. Or until Kurt is finally seen by someone, whichever comes first."

"Aw, man." Fred sighed. Then something struck him. " _Kurt? The fuzzy guy? What's she doing with him?"  
Fred was so utterly clueless, he didn't even know that Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker's father. _

"Uh, Mystique . . ." But she had already hung up.  
"Great." Fred rushed to the bathroom to vomit, again and again. Finally he just lay on the floor, unable to move or get up.  
And that was where Mystique found him when she came in several hours later. "Fred?"

"Huh? Who's that? That you, Mystique?"  
"Of course it's me! Who were you expecting?" She looked down at him. "What are you doing lying on the floor?"  
"Trying not to throw up."

She helped him up to a sitting position. "How long have you been on the floor?"  
"I dunno . . . three, four hours?"  
Mystique was glad she hadn't put her car keys away. The only problem was trying to stuff Fred in her back seat. "Come on," she said, and helped him all the way up.  
  
  


"Hey." Brenda looked over at Todd.  
"Hey," he said.  
She reached for his hand. "Feeling better?"

"Maybe a little. You?"  
"My head hurts . . . I can't keep my shields up, and I'm getting bombarded with everyone's thoughts . . ."

"That must be a pain."

"Yes, it--" She broke off suddenly, and a strange expression came over her face. She looked at Todd, then over at Wanda, who was wiping down Lance's face with a wet cloth.  
"What?"  
"Why are you so interested in Wanda all of a sudden?"  
"Interested? No! I'm grateful to her for helpin' us out here, but **interested? No way!"  
"I know what you're thinking! You think she's pretty!"  
"No! Well, yes . . . kind of . . ."  
"Prettier than me?"  
"Of course not!"**

Brenda just stared at him. "Beware the wrath of an angry telepath," she said ominously.  
Todd shrank back, convinced she was going to let him have it . . . and then Wanda came over. "Everything all right here?"

"Uh . . ."

"Yes," Brenda said. She forced herself to smile, even though it made her headache worse. "Everything's fine, isn't it, Todd?"  
"Yeah," he agreed. "Except she's got this weird idea that you and I like each other or something--"

Big mistake.

"Ow!" Toad rubbed the top of his head. "What was that for?"  
"You know what that was for!"  
"But I didn't do anything!"

Brenda gave him a death glare.

"Hey, I can't help what I **think!"  
"Just try not to think so much of it, will you?"  
"Oh, okay, I guess." Todd fell back onto the bed and counted all the parts of him that hurt, in one way or another.**

Lance was sleeping, and Pietro tried to call out to Wanda only to find that his voice was gone.

As for Fred, Mystique had taken him to the same hospital where she had just brought Kurt. In fact, he was still there when they arrived.

"I'm gonna barf." Fred moaned.

"Me too," said Kurt. "Again."  
"Haven't you seen a doctor yet?" Mystique asked.

"I'll tell you when the room stops spinning." Kurt groaned.

Someone came in.  
It wasn't a doctor. But Mystique knew this person.

"Ms. Darkholme?"

"Taryn? What are you doing here?"  
"I'm volunteering tonight."

"Volunteering?"

"Yeah, I work here two or three nights a week. What are you doing here?"

"Long story."

"Well, don't plan on seeing a doctor for a while. They're all tied up with a busload of tourists that got sick after eating at some seafood place . . ."

"It wasn't the scallop, was it?"

"Uh . . ." Fred said. "There was some kind of seafood in the back of the fridge that I ate. I don't know what it was."

"Back of the fridge?"

"Yeah, why? How old was it?"  
"Who cares now?" Kurt moaned. "Ve're gonna die!"

"Three weeks, I think." Mystique had, in fact, been about to throw it out. "It's a wonder you're not dead."   
Finally, a doctor came in to look at the boys.

Sure enough, both of them had a massive case of food poisoning, and would have to stay for at least a few days.  
But that wasn't the worst of it.

The worst of it was at the X-Mansion. Someone else had eaten the bad seafood . . .

(And we'll find out who that someone is next chapter! Sorry to do this to you, but I promise I'll have the next part up soon!)


	6. Magneto's Visit

I'M DYING 4: FLU MISERIES

Chapter 6

Someone else had eaten the bad seafood . . . and just their luck, it was the professor.

"Remind me never to ask for restaurant tips from Kurt," he groaned.  
"I'm sure he had no idea the food was bad," said Jean. "At least food poisoning isn't contagious."

That was small comfort to Xavier. "Make sure no one else is affected," he told her.

"I'm trying, believe me."

Storm gathered everyone together and found that no one else had eaten the tainted seafood. So they were safe, at least for now.  
Unless Kitty decided to bake muffins, that is.  
  
  


"So when you gonna tell me?" Lance asked Wanda.

"Tell you what?"

"Why you call him Boo."  
"It's a long story . . ."  
"We got two weeks. It's not like I'm going anywhere. Unless I die, that is."  
"You're not going to die." She had just taken his temperature again, and it had actually gone down a little.

"Please?"

"OK. It goes back to when we were little kids. After our mom died, we were raised by her Aunt Luisa . . ."  
"Wanda . . ." came a plaintive wail from across the room. "I'm hot again."

"Just a sec . . ."

Lance was upset. "I'm never gonna get to hear this!"  
"Will you relax?" said Wanda. "I'll get to it!"  
She went to Pietro and checked everything again . . . then picked up right where she had left off. "She was a witch."  
"A what?" Lance looked at her skeptically.  
"Not a black-hat/broom-riding/Halloween witch. A real witch. Who knew a lot about herbal potions and charms and stuff."

Lance stared.

"She taught me a lot about healing, even though I was still really little. I have a copy of her spell book that I use now and then . . ."  
"Is there a spell for never getting sick again?" Toad asked. "Cause we could sure use it."

"I don't think so."

"We're gonna die."

"No, we're not."

"Yes we are," said Pietro. "It hurts when I swallow."

Wanda reached into her pocket. "Try this," she said, holding out a cherry lozenge.

"Is it the good kind or the cheap kind?"  
"What difference does it make?"  
"I don't like the way the cheap ones taste . . ."

"Uh huh." Wanda decided not to argue with him. That would come later, when he was feeling better.  
She remembered the time when they were three years old and had the measles. Their father, who had just returned from a "business trip", nearly panicked . . . highly unusual for him. But at the time, he was just getting used to being a father.

Her favorite part of the memory was sitting on Daddy's lap while he rocked them back and forth and sang to them.

It was right around that time that she'd first started calling Pietro "Boo" . . . but if she told the whole story, it might be a bit embarrassing. So she gave them the edited version.

"OK, a long time ago--"

"Not that long," Pietro interrupted.

Wanda rolled her eyes at her brother. "Anyway,when we were kids, we lived with Aunt Luisa after Mom died. Then when we were about three, a man showed up at the house. Someone we'd never seen before."

Lance was all ears. He'd always been curious about Pietro's childhood, but had never had the courage to ask him about it. Now here was a source of information he hadn't considered. And as an added bonus, he'd get some Magneto dirt too.

"Aunt Luisa said he was our daddy, and he'd been away for a long time but now he was back to live with us."

"Then what?"

"Well . . . he tried really hard. He wanted to learn how to be a good father, but some things he just couldn't get."

"You mean like dolls?" The image of Magneto, in full battle dress, sitting on the floor playing Barbies with a three-year-old Wanda made everyone laugh.

"Like how not to panic if we got sick or something."  
"Panic?" Lance looked at her. He couldn't even imagine Magneto panicking about anything. "You're kidding."  
"No, there was this one time when Pietro was little . . ."

"Please don't tell this," Pietro begged her.  
"Why not?"

"It's embarrassing!"

 "What's so embarrassing about it?"

"Well, uh . . ."

"JUST TELL IT ALREADY!" Lance shouted.

Pietro glared at him, but Wanda continued. "Anyhow, one day Pietro and I . . ."

Magneto stopped at the mansion's gates. He could easily have forced his way in, but that would have set off the alarms, and that wasn't quite what he wanted. So he pressed the buzzer instead.

"Yes?"  
"I need to see Professor Xavier right away."  
"I'm afraid he's . . . unavailable at the moment."

Magneto's eyebrows arched. That was very odd indeed.

"It's very urgent."  
"I'm sorry, but--"  
_It's all right,_ came a voice in Magneto's head. _Let him in. I've been expecting him, actually._

Relieved, Magneto walked through the gate.

He thought he'd be shown into Charles' office, or the study, but instead they took him to a room that looked an awful lot like a bedroom. He approached the bed . . .

"Are you all right?" he asked. "You look terrible."  
"It's nothing."

That was what Pietro had said when he first contracted Virus 10 . . . not a good sign in Magneto's opinion.

"I didn't mean to intrude . . ."  
"That's all right," Xavier said, settling back on the pillows. "I know why you're here."  
"You do?"  
"Yes, but I'm afraid the children can't be released just yet, due to the quarantine."

Magneto didn't like the sound of that. "Quarantine?"

"I'm trying to keep the flu from spreading to the rest of the school. We've had quite enough of that already, I think."

"Flu?" Magneto _definitely_ didn't like the sound of that.

"Didn't you know? I thought that's why you were here. As I've said, the children are under quarantine--"  
"Which children?"

Xavier told him, and Magneto shook his head. "I knew I should have gotten them flu shots."  
"Ours were scheduled for next week."  
"Why do we have such lousy timing?"

"Well, if it wasn't for the children," Xavier said, "what **did** you come here for?"  
Magneto produced a file folder. He opened it, and took out a satellite photo of a landscape. "If you can't see it on this one," he said, "look at the enlargement."  
The second photo showed a huge form making its way throught the trees.  
"Dear God, no," Xavier said.  
"I'm afraid so. The mutant that Michaela created has broken loose. And it's headed this way."

(Dunh dunh DUNHHHHHH! Stay tuned, next chapter will be up soon!)


	7. Monster on the Loose

I'M DYING 4: FLU MISERIES

Chapter 7

"The mutant that Michaela created has broken loose. And it's headed this way." Magneto sounded quite grave as he passed on the news.

"When did he break out?" Xavier asked.

"It. Not he, it. There's no indication that this thing has a mind."  
"Except for the fact that 'it' remembered who we are, and figured out where to find us."  
"We don't know that."  
"Does he know that his mother is . . . dead?"

"I don't think so."

"God help us when he finds out."

"God help us, indeed. We've only got half the personnel we needed to take him down last time . . ."

Meanwhile, the creature in question was just outside the Bayville city limits. It lumbered towards the ruins of Michaela Sandoval's old laboratory . . . the only home he/it had ever known. Its chief thoughts were of its creator....

Mother . . .  
She'd never bothered to give him a name. She'd been too busy thinking of how to improve him. However, she had been infected with Virus 10 before she could ever see him again. So he had no idea what had happened to her . . .

He continued to lumber forward....

Suddenly there were noises all around him. He swung around and nearly crushed a police cruiser.

Dozen of guns aimed at the monster and a voice yelled, "Fire!"

The creature barely felt the bullets. He shrugged them off and kept going. Nothing was going to keep him from his home now . . . nothing.

He tore the door off its hinges, and searched frantically only to find no one had been there for some time.

If the creature could have understood the concept of grief, he might have wept for the loss of his creator.

At the Mansion, the report on the creature's "attack" was on the news.

In fact, at that very moment, Professor Xavier was conferring with Mystique via video monitor. "It appears Michaela Sandoval is lashing out at us from beyond the grave." he said.

"That monster has to be destroyed," she urged him.  
"Not necessarily. It may be possible to--"  
"Please tell me you're not going to try and recruit that thing!"

"...talk it into ending its violent acts," he finished.

"It can't understand! It doesn't have the intelligence!"

Xavier could see that Mystique was terrified. "Even if he does come here, he won't get past the security systems."

"I hope you're right," Mystique said, "but still . . . do you think we should move the children?"

"It's probably risky in their present condition," Xavier said, "but we may have to."

It was rare when Mystique felt fear, but she remembered the last time she and that creature had met, and it wasn't pretty. She'd almost been killed....

"Maybe if we split up," she suggested, "it won't know which way to go."

"Good idea."

So Xavier and Mystique set to work trying to find the Sandoval mutant (who really needed a name) . . . while at the same time trying to keep their respective charges safe.

Meanwhile, Magneto had gone down to visit the children.  
At least, as much visiting as you can do on the other side of an airtight door.

Pietro and Wanda were glad to see him.  
"Get me out of here!" Pietro demanded.  
"I take it you're feeling better," his father said.  
"Well . . . kind of . . ."

"Kind of?"

"His fever's gone up again," Wanda said. "Not as bad as it was last time, but . . ."

Magneto got the picture.

"We may be moving you," he said, though he wouldn't say why.

"What about Xavier's crew?" said Pietro.

"I don't know about them yet."  
"Mom? That you?" Toad moaned. Clearly, Toad was not in his right mind....

Quarantine be damned, Magneto decided. He wasn't about to let Wanda take on the burden of caring for four sick teenagers all by herself. Before anyone could stop him, he'd opened the airlock door and slipped inside.  
"Now, let's take a look at you," he said, starting with Wanda herself.

"Daddy," she protested, "I'm fine!"  
"Think again . . ."

And despite her strong objections, she let him finish the examination.  
"Well?" she asked, when he was done. "I don't have it, do I? If I did, I would know."  
The look he gave her was not reassuring. "I'm afraid you do have it."

Wanda froze. "But I can't! I don't have any symptoms!"  
"You do have . . ." Magneto was suddenly interrupted by a voice over the intercom.  
"What's going on in there?"

"It's Wanda." Magneto replied. "She's been infected."

"I have not!" Wanda protested.

"How bad is it?"

"Hello? I said I'm fine!"  
"No, you're not. You're almost as sick as Pietro."

"I am not!" Then the room started spinning around . . . and she collapsed.

"What was that?" came the voice from outside.

There was no reply from within, because Wanda was out cold and Magneto was trying to revive her. He moved her to the only remaining empty bed. He then called Xavier and informed him of the situation.  
"So we can't move them right away."

"Unfortunately not, Charles."

"We're bringing the defensive systems on-line right now--" Xavier said, before an alarm went off.  
"What's that?" he asked Logan.  
"Intruder on the premises."  
"Is it--?"  
"Nah. Not big enough. I'll go out and handle it."  
Logan suited up and started scanning for the unwelcome guest.

He spotted movement out of the corner of his eye.   
No time to be subtle. He sprang at the intruder . . .  
. . . who turned out to be a sixteen-year-old boy. "Aaaaahhh!"  
"Sorry, kid, thought you were someone else."  
"You greet all your guests like this?"   
"Only the very special ones."

The kid pulled himself to his feet. "I'm Marco."  
"Hmm."

Dusting himself off, Marco said, "I'm supposed to report to Professor Xavier for orientation...do you know where he is?"

"Inside. C'mon, let's go."

With that, Marco followed Wolverine to Xavier's office, where Professor Xavier himself was following reports of the monster's rampage.

"We got a new student, Charles," Logan said.

Marco noticed the troubled look on the professor's face.

"Something wrong?" he asked. "If this is a bad time . . ."

"No, not at all," the professor said. Marco noticed how pale and drawn he looked.  
"Are you all right?" he asked.

The professor turned down the monitor and said, "It's . . . nothing. Slight touch of food poisoning. I'll get over it."  
"Food poisoning? That could be serious. Here, let me help." Marco put both his hands on Xavier's back.

No one had asked what Marco's powers were. But they wouldn't have to wait long to find out.


	8. The Creature Attacks

I'M DYING 4: FLU MISERIES

Chapter 8

"Here, let me help." Marco put both his hands on Xavier's back.

Xavier felt warmth spreading down towards his stomach. At the same time, positive energy flowed into Marco.

The whole process took only seconds, but it felt like years. Finally, when the boy pulled away, the Professor felt invigorated. Marco, on the other hand, was bent over, retching. After a few minutes, he straightened up.  
"Sorry about that. That always happens afterwards. It goes away after a while."

_Remarkable, the professor thought. He'd never met a mutant with actual healing powers. This could definitely come in handy . . ._

"Marco," he said suddenly, "would you accompany me downstairs as soon you're able?"

"Sure," he said. "Take me a few minutes, though."  
Logan knew exactly what Xavier had in mind. "Want me to keep an eye on the monitors?"

"Yes, and let me know immediately if anything happens."

Elsewhere, the monster had started laying waste to Bayville High. He didn't really know what he was looking for . . . but he knew it was close by.

The X-Men (minus Kurt, who was still in the hospital) were already suited up and ready for action.

"Talk about kicking somebody when they're down." Cyclops said.

"Are we kicking him, or is he kicking us?" asked Spyke.

"I'd say we're being kicked," Jean said. "We'll have to work twice as hard as we did before."

"And we don't have Kurt," Kitty sighed. "Why did he have to get sick **now?"**

"How do you think Kurt feels?" Storm said.

Kurt, at that moment, was trying to get up. He'd overheard Mystique on the phone, talking about some monster on the loose. There was no way he was staying here while his friends were in danger.  
The only problem was, he couldn't find his clothes. They'd been locked away somewhere where he couldn't find them. And there was no way he was going out in this butt-exposing hospital gown . . .

Mystique came in and found him trying to find something to wear. "What do you think you're doing?"  
"I have to go--" Suddenly . . . Kurt collapsed.

Mystique put him back in bed and paged Xavier. She also asked for an update on the Sandoval creature situation. What she heard was not encouraging.

"Our team is in place to intercept him . . . if they can."

"If they can?"

"If he's as powerful as he was last time, they may not be able to do much more than slow him down."  
"Then what? Call out the National Guard?"

After a pause, Xavier said, "We might have a chance with a few more powerful mutants on our side."

"Who?"

So he told her of his newest student . . .

"He can **heal?"  
"Yes, I know it's quite rare, but he does appear to have the gift."**

"Where is he now?"

"Downstairs, in the Medical Ward."

With only a second's hesitation, Mystique said, "Send him over here when he's finished."

"All right."

But that might take a while . . . and time was one thing they were very short on.

The creature was already at the front gates, trying to rip them out of the ground.

"Maybe we can distract him," suggested Cyclops.

"How?" Jean asked.

"Good question."

Kitty decided to take matters into her own hands.

Using her phasing abilities, she went right through the monster and out the other side.  
It was probably the grossest experience of her life. It was also very nearly the last.

Because the monster, far from being distracted, was now focused on her.  
He swiped his claws at her, nearly ripping her head off.

"NO!" Suddenly Evan lunged forward and shot an armful of spikes at the creature . . . most of which bounced off without doing any real damage.

But they got its attention long enough for Cyclops to hit it with an optic blast.  
"Grraagghh!" The creature staggered back . . .  
. . . and Jean fell to her knees.  
"No!" she cried. "Stop! Don't hurt him! He just . . . he just wants his mother."

Everyone stared at her . . .

(Okay, short, I know, but I felt that was a good place to stop. Don't worry, the next chapter will have the end of the Boo story!)


	9. Healing

I'M DYING 4: FLU MISERIES

Chapter 9

"What do you mean, he wants his mother?" Cyclops asked her.  
Jean shook her head. "He's confused. He only attacked because he doesn't know any other way."

"He got something against e-mail?"

"Let me try and talk to him," she said. "He's been in the lab his whole life. He doesn't understand . . ."

"Then you'd better talk fast," Scott said, "before he squashes us like grapes."

"I'll try."  
  
"Where should I start?" Marco asked. He'd never done five patients at once before.

And yet here he was...

This might take a while. He needed a few minutes in between healings to recharge his batteries, as it were.  
"Kitty . . ." Lance moaned.  
"Which one's Kitty?" Marco asked.  
Magneto rolled his eyes. "She's not here. He's talking about someone else."

Marco looked at Lance and said, "He sounds pretty sick. I'll start with him."

He put his hands on either side of Lance's head, and concentrated.

A moment later, he straightened up again . . . and to his own surprise, Lance felt fine.  
Marco, however, did not.  
"Just gimme a second," he said . . . right before he collapsed.

Lance picked him up and laid him on the now-empty bed. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"Yes," Xavier said, "but it may take some time."  
  


"We don't have time!" said Jean, who was trying to hold off the creature, but failing.

Wolverine lunged at it, claws out and ready to rip. The creature side-stepped and then brought his own claws up, and slashed at Wolverine.

As the two battled, Kitty tried to take it off its feet. She had no luck whatsoever.

Things were very confused for a while there . . . but instead of keeping him out, they were actually leading him onto the grounds. Soon he was poised to attack the main campus. 

But at that moment, it felt like something exploded inside his mind.  
He heard a voice, over and over . . .  
We are your friends. We will not hurt you . . .

The creature froze. He couldn't speak, but he knew something was wrong. All of a sudden it was like he was inside a room, one he'd never seen before, but which he somehow knew was the inside of his own head.  
There was a man sitting there, in a chair.

The creature dropped his aggressive stance. "What do you want?" came out of his mouth. He was as startled as anyone.  
"You're not really speaking, you know," the man said.

Inside the mansion, Xavier was stunned by what he found inside the mutant's mind. Expecting its reasoning to be primitive, he instead discovered that he was actually quite intelligent. He'd just never been taught to use any other methods to deal with other people.  
He even looked human inside his mind. Of course, that was probably because he'd never seen what he really looked like . . . having spent most of his existence in one cell or another.

"Who are you?" the mutant asked.  
"My name is Charles Xavier," the man in the chair said. "Do you have a name?"  
"Name?"  
"What you're called."  
"Oh." He tried to think. It was something he'd never had to do before. "Mother calls me Precious."

Precious, Xavier thought sadly.

"I'm having nasty Lord of the Rings flashbacks," said a girl with red hair, standing beside the man. "And what did you mean, Mother?"

"The one who made me," the creature said. "Where is she?"

Xavier dreaded having to answer him. "Let's talk a little more about you first." 

"What about me?"

"Do you remember where you came from?"

"From the lab."

Xavier accessed the boy's (for he saw himself as a young male version of his mother) memories . . . and what he saw was quite disturbing. Michaela hadn't just molded his DNA . . . she'd twisted his brain to boot.

For his entire life (which, as far as Xavier could tell, was about five years), this poor boy had been fed the most outrageous lies about humans, mutants, and the world in general.

Magneto would be repulsed, the professor reflected, if he knew even half the brainwashing Michaela had subjected her creation to . . . most directed at him.  
Must have been some falling-out they had.

He saw mental images of Michaela's brother Marco, who was a party to the torture.

It took all the self-control he had to keep from screaming in blind rage.

"What is wrong?" the boy asked.

After what seemed like an eternity, Xavier answered. "You have no idea, do you? You think this is the way people are supposed to live, because you've never known anything else."

The young mutant didn't how to respond. "What are you saying? Mother was . . . wrong?"

"About countless things."

"But . . . how?"

Now, Xavier realized, came the truly hard part. It was impossible to explain something for which the young mutant had no frame of reference. Still, he had to try . . .

Meanwhile, Marco had recovered and was now working on healing Wanda.  
Lance had insisted. "I'm gonna hear the end of that story if I have to pry it outta her!"

"This might not be the best time, yo," Toad said. "That monster thingy the crazy lady created is out loose--"

"I'll get to you all in a minute," Marco said, laying his hands on Wanda.

Wanda felt a surge of energy race through her . . .

And then something strange happened. Something that hadn't happened with the others.

Wanda trembled. The energy that had been flowing into her drained back out in a rush . . . and hit Toad.

"Whoa!" He blinked, and then suddenly, he felt like he could take on the world.

Wanda, meanwhile, felt dizzy.

But that was nothing compared to how Marco was feeling.  
He'd never had a healing rebound on him before. Not even with a telepath. What were this girl's powers?

"What's going on?" Magneto demanded.

"It's Wanda." said Toad. "Somethin's wrong with her, yo." After a short pause he added, "Physically, I mean."

Wanda glared at him, but she was too weak to do anything else.

Marco turned to Magneto. "What does she do? I mean, what powers does she have?" It was hard for him to think straight, let alone get a sentence out.

Magneto told him.

"Hex bolts? What are those?"  
"I'm not sure," Toad said, "but don't ever stand in the way of one."

"Oh boy . . ."

"What does that have to do with whatever happened to her?" Lance asked.

Wanda coughed and then looked at Marco. "What did you do to me?"

She stood up unsteadily . . . but she didn't stay on her feet long.

"Great," said Lance. "Now I'll never hear the end of the story!"

Xavier, meanwhile, was still inside the mind of the Sandoval mutant. He was seeing still more disturbing images. Michaela had never actually beaten her child, but what she did do to him came alarmingly close. And the worst part of it was that he thought it was perfectly normal.

Xavier could see that his work was just beginning . . .

The other X-Men, meanwhile, stood around wondering what was going on.

"What's stopping him?" wondered Cyclops.

"I don't know," Shadowcat said, "but maybe Jean can tell us."

Jean concentrated. It was hard to maintain a link with . . . whatever he was (she saw him as a horrible creature and at the same time as a confused little boy, all at once), and keep another part of her mind on the here-and-now. Nonetheless, with Xavier's help, she was able to report back to the others what was happening.

What they heard nearly made their hair stand on end.

Michaela had twisted the young mutant's mind up in knots, and it was looking more and more likely that he would need help to overcome her systematic, lifelong brainwashing.

The first step, of course, was making him see that what she had done to him was wrong. This would be the hardest of all.  
  
"I'm ready to try again," Marco said.

"I'm not sure I am," Wanda groaned.

"I'm pretty sure I think I know what went wrong last time."  
"Oh, wonderful."  
"Just lie still and don't think of anything."

Though it was incredibly hard, she did just that.

Marco concentrated.

This time it went much better. Whatever had blocked the healing energy wasn't there anymore, whatever it had been.

When Marco was finished, Wanda sat up. "Whew, that feels much better." She looked around and asked, "Where's Dad?"

He was lying on the floor.

"Oh God!"

"What is it?" Marco said, as soon as his stomach settled.

"Dad's out cold . . ."

"You're still finishing your story," Lance said.

"Okay, okay," Wanda sighed, but before she could say a word, Mystique's voice came over the intercom.

"Is that healer still there?"

Marco answered. "Yes, I'm here . . . but we have a bit of a problem right now."  
"Problem?"

"It's Magneto." Marco knelt down beside him and checked his vitals. He was clearly in serious trouble.

"What is it?" Wanda asked. "Don't tell me he's picked up the bug."

"I'm afraid he has," the boy sighed.

"Well, can you help him?"  
"It's not that simple . . ."

Wanda didn't like the sound of that. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's got it worse than the rest of you."

"Can you help him?"

"Not just yet. Not after the other healings. I need to recharge my batteries first. Can someone bring me some food?"

Pietro jumped up and raced to the kitchen, bringing back an energy bar someone had stashed in the fridge.

"I don't think you should be up and around just yet," Wanda said.  
"Why not? I feel great! Absolutely fiiiiiii--" The sudden energy burst wore off, and he collapsed.

"Can you please finish the story before we all die?" Lance asked.  
Wanda threw her hands in the air. "Fine! I'll finish the story!"

She took a short breath and said, "Well, when we were three, we had the measles. And Dad took us onto his lap, and sang to us."  
"And where does Boo come in?"  
"I'm getting to that!"

"Geez, you don't have to snap my head off!" Lance complained.  
"Why shouldn't I? All I've heard from you is 'Finish the story, finish the story.' I'm trying to finish it, if you'll just shut up and let me!"  
"Okay, okay!" Wanda went back to the story. "Anyway, Dad didn't know a lot of songs. At least, not kid-friendly ones. So he came up with a really old one."

"Which one?"

Wanda started singing it. It was about a dog. A dog named Boo. Lance would have laughed . . . if he hadn't been mesmerized by her voice. Who knew?

"Anyway," she said, when she was finished, "that's where Boo came from. Pietro loved that song. And if you give him a hard time over this . . ."

"I won't! I promise."

The intercom crackled again. "How's it going down there?"

"Better than it was a few minutes ago." Marco had recovered somewhat and was ready to try again.

Magneto began to stir. "Wanda?"

"Dad?" She went to him and helped him into a chair. "It's going to be all right now."

Elsewhere in the Institute, Xavier was still communicating with the Sandoval mutant. The creature was lowering its defenses, so the X-Men started to pull back.

"What's he doing now?" asked Scott.

"I think we're getting through to him," Jean said.


	10. Spare TireDo Not Use For Swing

I'M DYING 4: FLU MISERIES

Chapter 10

"I think we're getting through to him," Jean said.

"We can only hope," Wolverine growled.

The boy heard their words, through his link to Jean. "Do--do they want to hurt me?"  
"No," she said. "They want to keep you from hurting anyone else."

The mutant dropped its arms. "Why don't they want me to hurt them?"

"Because . . ."

It was hard to explain to someone who had no idea what they were talking about. Respect for human life had never been part of Michaela's curriculum. Indeed, she had regularly gone out of her way to snuff it . . . but right now, Xavier was making a distinct impression on him.

It was confusing him. Who was right? Mother, or this stranger? And how was he to know?

Inside, the healings were finally finished. And not a minute too soon.

"That feels much better, yo," Toad said. "Now what?"

"Now we go beat up that monster," said Wanda.

"First we have to get Fred."

"Right," said Marco. He looked around. "So who's driving?"

"Me, yo." Toad sprinted ahead of them.

"You don't even have a license!" Lance said.  
"So?"

With that they piled into the first car they could find . . . which happened to be Magneto's.

"One scratch," he warned, "and you're all grounded till the next millennium!"

Toad drove well for someone who didn't actually have a license. "I lived in a car for a while," he said.

"Oh great," Lance groaned.

"What if we get stopped?" asked Pietro.

"We'll switch seats before the cop gets here," Wanda said.

"OK."

Luck was on their side; not a cop was within 100 miles at the moment. And traffic was light.

Magneto sighed with relief as the hospital came into view. They'd managed to get there safely and in one piece after all.  
And then . . .

"What was that?" Lance said.

"What was what?" asked Toad.

"That loud pop I just heard."

"I didn't hear anything."

Toad stopped the car. Sure enough, one of the tires had gone flat.  
"Musta run over a nail or somethin', yo."

"That's just great," grumbled Magneto. "Somebody get the spare out."

"You do it," said Toad to Wanda.

"Fine. Open the trunk."  
A moment later, the trunk popped open . . .  
"There's no spare tire in here."  
"What?" Magneto looked like he was about to have a coronary. "There was when we left!"

Toad had a guilty look on his face. "I kind of, um . . . borrowed it."  
"You what?"  
"Well, I've always wanted a tire swing!"

Lance wanted to kill Toad. "You couldn't find an old tire somewhere?"  
"I didn't know we'd need it!"

"Toad, you idiot!!!"

"Me? Why didn't you just write Spare tire--do not use for swing on it?"  
Lance had no words to express his desire to beat Toad senseless. If Magneto hadn't restrained him, he might have done just that.  
"We have work to do," Magneto said. "Let's just go inside and save the killing for another time, shall we?"

So they hurried to fix the tire . . . while Marco went in to do what he had come for.

As for Professor Xavier, he'd just gotten some alarming news.

"There's half a dozen choppers and a line of armored trucks headed this way," Wolverine reported. "Unless someone's having a surprise party, I don't think that's good."

(I'm sorry it's short, but at least it's up! More on the way soon!)


	11. Plan B

I'M DYING 4: FLU MISERIES

Chapter 11

"There's half a dozen choppers and a line of armored trucks headed this way," Wolverine reported. "Unless someone's having a surprise party, I don't think that's good."

Indeed it wasn't, as they were all armed with large-caliber weapons, to take down the "monster".

"Try and get them to hold their fire," Xavier instructed his proteges.

"Yeah, like they'll listen to us," said Wolverine.

"Surround him! They won't shoot us to get to him!" Cyclops said.

"You sure about that?"

There was no insignia on the choppers whatsoever. They were plain black from top to bottom. And their pilots didn't look happy to see the X-Men . . .

"Step away from the creature," said a voice over a bullhorn.

"We've got it under control," Spyke said.

The "creature" saw the choppers land. Frightened of these unknown people converging on him, he bolted.

Cyclops split the team up: half would go after him, while the other half kept the invaders busy.

"What's going on?" the Sandoval creature asked Xavier.

"I'm not sure yet. Please don't run away. I promise you, I won't let anything happen to you."

Jean and Cyclops tried to reason with the soldiers.  
"He's not dangerous!"  
"He ripped his way out of a research lab, lady. I call that dangerous."

"Very dangerous," said another of the men.

"He's just confused! If a bunch of men with guns started shooting at you for no reason, wouldn't you fight back?"

"No reason?!"one of the others snickered.

"He doesn't know any better! He's got the mind of a child!"  
"Then consider this the mother of all spankings."

This was not going well . . .

And things at the hospital were even worse.

The Brotherhood had finally arrived, and they were not getting along with the other patients. Lance had to be physically restrained from punching out a kid who made cracks about mutants as he walked into the waiting room.

"You got a problem, punk? Huh?"

"Chill, Lance!" pleaded Wanda.

Marco found his way to Kurt and Fred's room . . . where Fred was heaving into a basin.

Mystique saw Marco come in. "You got here just in time."

"Okay. Should I start with him?"

"You can start anywhere you like, as long as you do it now."

Marco went over to Kurt first, since he was closer.

"Who are you?"  
"I'm a friend. I'm here to help you."

Kurt wasn't sure what to make of this newcomer. "Are you vith us or zhem?"  
"Us or them who?" Marco didn't know what he meant. No one had as yet filled him in on the X-Men/Brotherhood feud.

Fred tried to help. "Uh, we're kind of, like, fighting each other . . ." That was as far as he got before he heaved yet again.  
There obviously wasn't time to do Kurt and Fred separately, Marco thought, so he put a hand on each of them, concentrated his energies, and fed his healing energies into both of them at the same time.

This took a lot out of him, unfortunately . . . and when he was finished he needed Kurt's help to get up again.

"Are you all right?"

Marco blinked, looked at Kurt, and passed out.   
"Not again," said Lance.

"Is he dead?" Fred asked.

"No, but we'll all be dead if you don't stop that monster," Mystique said. "Put him in the car and let's go."

He was on the run again. Having failed to reason with the soldiers, the X-Men had fallen back and were trying to come up with Plan B.

"Keep them busy," Cyclops said, "while Jean and I try to help him get away."

"I'll try," said Spyke. He led Shadowcat and Rogue back towards the advancing army.

"How are we supposed to stop them?" Rogue demanded.

"Yeah, they've got, like, body armor!" Shadowcat added.

"We don't have to stop them!" Spyke said. "All we have to do is keep them from getting to our friend. Remember what Logan had us do in the session last week?"

The girls looked at each other and smiled.

Xavier jumped as his cell phone rang. "Yes?"  
"Sorry to bother you," said Hank McCoy, "but I've found some things I thought you should know."  
"We're a little busy right now."  
"It concerns Michaela Sandoval."  
"I'm listening."  
"Seems about five or six years ago, she was involved in a big genetics project at Stark Industries."  
"I thought they were into military hardware, not biotech."  
"Whatever they were working on had military written all over it. It may even have been connected to Weapon X."  
"Really?"  
"She and a partner--a male partner--were involved in isolating and reproducing the mutant gene. The project is listed as a failure, but . . . the two had some kind of falling-out, he left, and then she was kicked off. I can't say for sure, but it looks like--"  
"That project may have resulted in our friend," Xavier concluded. "Which means that this mysterious partner may be able to help us control him. Where is he now?"  
"He vanished. Two years ago. There's no trace of him working anywhere, unless it's under an assumed name."  
"I'll ask Magnus. He may remember the man. What was his name?"  
"Banner. Bruce Banner."

(Ha ha! Betcha weren't expecting that! Working our way to a big finish, so stay tuned!)


	12. Monster vs Monster

I'M DYING 4: FLU MISERIES

Chapter 12

Banner himself was not far away . . . The transformation was already starting.

The worst part of it was, he had no control over it. If only there were some way for him to keep his own mind during the transformation . . . but he couldn't get any further with that thought, because the monster took over. The same monster that had been created on that terrible day, when he'd been exposed to massive doses of gamma radiation.

It was a lab accident that had happened some time ago. He'd been measuring the effects of gamma radiation on the human body when everything had gone haywire. One of the safety seals had breached, and the room had been flooded with unusually high levels of gamma radiation.

The major changes didn't happen for months after that. But when they finally did happen, they made his life a complete nightmare . . .

He just wished that he could be around to see them, instead of waking up when it was all over and wondering what the hell he'd done now.

He did a quick check of his surroundings in his last moments of conscious thought. He was close to a school.... But unfortunately it was too late to move to a safer location. The change was well underway. 

At that moment, Cerebro picked up the presence of something big heading towards the Institute,along with an unexpected surge of gamma radiation...

"What is that?" Logan demanded. "Is it a mutant?"

"Hard to tell," Xavier said. "Whatever it is, it's on a collision course with the kids."

"Oh brother." In a flash, Logan was suited up and out the door.

"What is THAT?" said one of the soldiers.

"I don't know," said another, "but if that thing's hanging around we'll need backup!"

"Forget backup! We'll need a couple of tanks!"

"RAAARRRRGH!" The Hulk ripped one of the Institute's front gates off and hurled it straight at the Sandoval mutant, who knocked it out of the air.

Who is this? the Sandoval creature asked Xavier telepathically.

I'm not sure. Try and keep him clear of the grounds.

That was easier said than done, however. Controlling the massive beast was next to impossible.

"RARRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHH!" the Hulk roared, lunging for the Sandoval mutant.

Meanwhile, the soldiers were just standing there watching.

"Wow, this makes 'Friday Night Smash-Up' look like a tea party!" one of them murmured as the two monsters grappled.

Jean watched anxiously.

"Can you get through to him?" asked Kitty.

"I'm trying, but . . . its mind is closed off somehow."

"We're all gonna die!"

Like I needed to hear that right now, Logan thought.

The two behemoths seemed not to notice them, however, being more interested in smashing each other to bits. And everything else that got in their way. Two police cruisers (which were fortunately empty by then) went flying through the air, one landing just inches from where the X-Men were plotting out their strategy.

"HULK SMASH!" a furious voice bellowed from the midst of the melee.

Jean made another attempt to reach the Sandoval mutant, and this time she got through.

You've got to get out of here while you still can.

And leave you with this . . . thing?

The Hulk lunged for the Sandoval creature's throat . . .

Secure file, secure file . . . oh, here we are.  
Magneto was going through the remains of Michaela Sandoval's lab, looking for anything relating to her previous work. Most of it was incomplete, but there was one file . . .  
This is it!

Now if he could just get it to Xavier . . .

This was potential dynamite, in the wrong hands. If he was reading this correctly, then Michaela Sandoval had been using staff DNA to create Project X.  
Specifically, that of the mysterious Bruce Banner.

In addition, there were references to experiments in gamma radiation.  
Magnus flew out of there, disk in hand, as if he were on fire.  
  
Back at the Institute, it seemed like all hell had broken loose, and Logan wondered if it hadn't. This was really going to up their insurance rates . . .

The Hulk had already taken out a lamppost, not to mention half a dozen trees.

"We've got to stop him!" Jean exclaimed.  
"How? We don't have heavy enough artillery!" Scott very helpfully pointed out.

"You're telling me!" said a soldier who just barely managed to duck out of the way of a flying chunk of sidewalk.

The Sandoval creature tried to make contact with Professor Xavier, but it was a little hard to do when pieces of the landscape were hurtling toward his head. And this green monstrosity didn't seem to have a mind.

Evan ducked just in time to avoid getting clobbered by a fire hydrant.  
Great. Now they had water spurting all over the street to worry about.  
It was just then that Mystique, Magneto, Kurt, and the rest of the Brotherhood showed up.

Magneto showed a rare look of astonishment on his face. "What is that?"

"It's that Hulk guy, yo." Toad said."And he looks mad."

"Ya think?" said Lance.

"I can take him down!" Fred insisted, and charged at the green behemoth.

"Fred, no!" yelled Kitty, but he didn't hear it.

The Hulk noticed the newcomer and swung a huge fist at him.  
"HULK SMASH!!"

But even his might couldn't topple the Immovable Blob. Fred knocked him over like a bowling pin.

This did not make him happy . . . not that he was all that ecstatic in the first place.

"HULK CRUSH YOU!"

"Yeah? Go ahead and try!"

Two seconds later, Fred regretted those words . . .

Meanwhile, Brenda was attempting to make contact with the Sandoval mutant, who was hiding in the nearby brush. It was easier said than done, however, since the mutant's mind was a jumble after the relentless assaults of the Hulk.

But little by little . . . they were connecting.

It was like being in a vast, high-ceilinged room, where the creature and Brenda were face-to-face.

"Who are you?"

I'm Brenda.

"You can hear me?"

Yes. I'm a telepath too, she explained.

"Where's Professor Xavier?"

He's here . . . somewhere.

The soldiers, in the meantime, had forgotten about the Sandoval mutant in their desperate efforts to stop the Hulk . . . efforts which were, sadly, not enough.

The green behemoth hurled a dozen troops aside like rag dolls. Even two dozen tranquilizer guns fired at him at once did nothing to stop his rampage . . . or keep him from decking Lance and Toad.

"Hey!"

"That hurts, yo!"

Then they hit the ground, hard, and were knocked out.

Magneto, in a rage, whirled toward the Hulk and aimed several bolts of magnetic energy at him. That at least slowed him down for a bit.

All of a sudden, Jean shouted, "STOP!"

All eyes turned toward her . . .

"Don't you get it?"  
"Get what?" Kitty was confused. Sometimes Jean forgot everyone else wasn't a telepath too.

"All I've gotten is one humongo headache."said Scott.

"We can't fight him any more!"  
"Tell him that!" Lance groaned.

"With all due respect, Ms. Grey--" Magneto started to say.

"I was able to probe deep into his mind when you hit him," She started to explain.

"What mind, yo?" Toad quipped.  
"Shut up, Toad!" Kurt snapped at him.

"This creature," Jean continued, "is really--"  
Something came flying through the air and slammed into her, knocking her over. The something turned out to be Scott. Hulk had picked him up and thrown him at her in a crude attempt to distract the soldiers.The green colossus lumbered off....

"Stop him!"  
"With what? A nuclear bomb?"

Scott turned to Jean as they both stood up and went after the creature, who was starting to transform back into ordinary (and somewhat exhausted) Bruce Banner.

"I tried to tell you," Jean said.  
"You mean, the whole time we were getting our clocks cleaned, it was Banner?"

"Yes. He turns into that . . . thing when he's stressed or angry. It's been going on for months now."

And sure enough, when they followed the Hulk's trail of destruction to its end, they found Banner lying on the ground, semi-unconscious.

Brenda!  Jean called out telepathically. I think your friend needs to see this!

Brenda and the Sandoval mutant came over to see what was going on.

Who is that? the Sandoval mutant asked.  
Jean didn't know how else to tell him. He's . . . he's your father.

My father? The Sandoval creature didn't quite understand. _What is . . ." father"? Is it like Mother?_

_Sort of, _Brenda tried to explain. _He doesn't know he is yet._

_Where is Mother?_

"You mean no one's told him yet?" Jean said out loud.

I will explain it to him, Xavier said. 

"Son of a . . ." Logan muttered.

The man on the ground stirred and started to get up. "What did I do?" he mumbled, over and over. "What did I do now?"

"At the very least, Dr. Banner, you gave the Bayville Public Works Department a perfect opportunity to test out its new road-paving equipment." Magneto quipped.  
"My God." Brenda gasped as she saw Banner, who looked like he'd just been mugged by a snowblower. "What happened to your clothes?"  
"Oh, they always rip when I change. That's why I never wear anything expensive now, because they never last." He was trying to make a joke of it, but failing.

"Man, it must bite to be him." Scott said to Evan.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be a monster half the--" Evan said, before Jean gave him a look.

Lance did a double-take at the sight of Banner. "Where'd you come from?"  
"Like, try to keep up, okay?" Kitty said.

Mystique looked at Xavier. "What do we do with him?"

"You ask me, this guy needs to cut waaaaaaaay back on the caffeine," Lance said as soldiers rushed past him . . . and stopped short.

Brenda and the Sandoval creature were kneeling beside Dr. Banner.

One of the soldiers turned to his commanding officer and asked, "What do we do now, sir?" 

"We need to get him into a hospital under heavy security..."

"Leave him here," Xavier said. "We have all the security you'll need."

The soldier looked at him as if he were insane. "But . . . but our orders--"  
"You know what you can do with your orders! We'll take care of this!" Wolverine snarled.

My . . . father?  
Brenda tried to comfort him. It's all right . . . you don't have a name, do you?  
No, should I?

It does help, Brenda pointed out.

What name should I have?

"Why don't we all go inside and work this out?" said Storm.

The soldiers looked at their commanding officer. "Sir?"  
Fortunately the C.O. was a master at thinking on his feet. "The creature and the Hulk ran off in different directions," he improvised. "Not knowing which one to follow, we decided to head back to base for further instructions. Aside from some collateral damage, there were no casualties, and no shots fired."

What the subordinate didn't know was that the CO was a former pupil of Xavier's, from his college teaching days.

Once everyone was safely inside, Brenda and Jean set up a dialogue with the still-bewildered Sandoval mutant.

What happens to me now?

The professor's going to try and help you, Brenda said.

You can stay here with us, Jean added. It's the safest place for you. 

What about Dr. Bann--my father? the creature wondered.

We can always use another instructor, Xavier said. And the Danger Room's thick walls will contain any . . . outbursts.

Dr. Banner himself, meanwhile, was talking to Wolverine.

"My . . . son?"

"Yeah, near as we can figure, Michaela took your DNA, combined it with her own, and . . . did some stuff."

Banner was in shock. "I never thought I'd have children," he said. "Well . . . maybe at one time, but after the accident, it was pretty much out of the question." He looked over at his son again. "What did she do to him? He doesn't even look human!"

"It's all in here." Magneto handed him the file he'd taken from Michaela's lab. "She brings obsession to a whole new level . . . designing a living weapon."

"But he has a mind, though?"

"Of course he does," Logan said. "Jean and Chuck, and Blondie there," he said, referring to Brenda, who was showing the new arrival around, "got inside and found him as human as you or me."

"Maybe not me," Banner said.

"No," Magneto said, "you're more than human. If you could harness the raw power of that beast inside you—"

"No way! I'm not letting him out again! I can't control him!"

"You can learn to," Logan said. "We do a lot of heavy-duty training here. Look at it this way: if he's gonna come out anyway, wouldn't you rather he be on our side?"

"He's not really a team player . . ."

"As soon as he learns the team isn't going to shoot him or try to rip his head off, he'll defend them. Believe me, Doc," Logan said, lowering his voice, "I know what it's like to have to harness the raging beast inside you. You shoulda seen me when I was growing up."

"I still don't know—"

A shadow fell over them—a **big shadow. Banner looked up and saw the Sandoval mutant standing over him.**

"Hello . . . father." He was not designed for human speech, but he had learned much through hearing other people talk. His voice was low, growly, but just understandable.

"Hello . . . son."

Magneto left, on his own, and Banner went to have a private word with the Professor and Logan about his remaining concerns.

"Are you sure it's safe?" he asked.  
"No one here will hurt you. They're a good bunch of kids, even if they get a little rambunctious sometimes. They'll know enough not to annoy you." Xavier sounded almost amused.  
"I meant for him."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, I don't know what Michy did to him, but . . . he can't go anywhere like that! They'll put him in a zoo! Or another lab."  
"Don't worry," Logan said, "we got it covered. Kurt, show Doc your watch."

"Ja, Wolverine." Kurt said. A second later, he teleported over and thumbed the button on his holowatch that controlled the illusion of a normal human appearance. 

"That's amazing," Banner said.  
"Mind you," Xavier told him, "it's only an illusion. Anyone who touches him . . ."

"I get the picture."

"It could work . . ." Logan said.

By the end of the day, the students had accepted their new classmate, who had been named Nathan, after Bruce's now-deceased uncle.

"They'll be fine," Logan said. "And best of all, we've got a healer now, for when the next epidemic hits."

Kitty shuddered. "The last thing we need is another epidemic . . ."

"You know it'll come. All it takes is one sniffle, and everyone's down for the count."

"Tell me about it." Toad groaned behind them.

As for Marco himself, he was settling into the room he would share with Scott.

"Hope you don't mind sharing space with my Daleks," he said.  
"What's a Dalek?"  
Marco rolled his eyes. "Don't you ever watch Doctor Who?"  
"I think I've heard of it."  
"Oh, man, are you in for a treat." Marco started unpacking his videos. "These are the emergency supply," he said. "The rest are being shipped here Fed Ex. I hope we have room."

"How soon?"

"Couple of days."  
"How many tapes are we talking here?" Scott asked warily.

"About twenty or thirty--"

"Well, that's not so bad."  
"Dozen," Marco finished.  
Scott gaped at him.   
"I'm waiting for it to be released on DVD, but that might be a while."

Scott groaned.  
  
Up in Xavier's office, the professor and Dr. Banner finished the last of the paperwork making Banner an official member of the Institute faculty.  

"We should give Nathan a code name," he said to Xavier. "Something a bit more positive than 'the creature' or 'that thing'." 

"What did you have in mind?" 

"I wasn't sure. I mean, it's not his fault he's how he is." 

Xavier pondered Banner's question for what seemed like forever. "He was created," he said, "to be a weapon."

Banner thought back to his days at Stark Industries. "We didn't even know we were working on Weapon X. They called the project . . ." He struggled to remember. 

After a minute, he said, "Project Minotaur." 

Stark Industries, as Banner recalled, had been tapped by the Defense Department to create a human/mutant hybrid that could be used as a weapon.  Banner hadn't known that at first, but Michy had known from the beginning. She did her best keep both Banner and Stark Industries from discovering the true nature of what she was doing.  
But in spite of it all, Banner and his chief assistant, Betty Ross, had uncovered the true goal of the project and alerted Stark Industries executives to Sandoval's activities. When the company CEO, Tony Stark, had learned what Michaela was up to, he had terminated her lab privileges and sent her packing.

As for Banner, he had ended up working for the Defense Department directly . . . until the gamma ray explosion that literally changed him completely.

He'd been on the run now for almost two years now, and it was good to finally have a place to call home. 

"Minotaur? I'm not sure most people will make the mythological connection. What do you think of 'Calaban'?" Professor Xavier's voice abruptly broke in on his thoughts.  

"Hmmm . . . isn't there a mutant in your files with that name?"

"So there is. Perhaps Nathan should choose for himself. Why don't we ask him?"

So Banner and Xavier went to find Nathan.

He was in the common room, watching a video.

"Nathan?"

He looked up. "Professor . . ." 

"We were wondering if you could spare a minute."

He looked confused. "Is something wrong?"

"The professor and I were thinking about . . . whether you'd like a code name to go with your powers."   
Nathan looked confused. "Powers?"

"Yes,your mutant abilities..." Xavier explained.

Nathan didn't understand. He didn't know that the things he could do were special abilities. He just thought everyone could smash through walls and throw cars fifty feet. He didn't know otherwise.

Nevertheless, he told Dr. Banner, "I don't want to fight any more."

Xavier said, "You don't necessarily have to--"

"How can you be sure?"

"As a student, you will learn how to control your powers. You may use them in battle simulations, but we really don't do much fighting. In any event, we'd keep you out of it as long as possible."

Nathan pondered the professor's words. "Okay," he said.

After some more thought, he finally settled on the code name . . . Rend.

The Brotherhood all went home, once they had been given a clean bill of health . . . unless you counted the black eye Toad had gotten from Lance for the whole tire thing.

"I said I was sorry already! Ow!"

"Not half as sorry as you're gonna be when I stop the car."  
"Maybe we shoulda stayed with the X-Geeks," Fred said.

"Both of you be quiet." Mystique was not in the best of moods right now . . . and she could cheerfully ripped all  their heads off, but for the fact that she was starting to feel sick. Really sick.

"Hey, boss lady, you okay?" Toad asked her. "You look kinda green."

"The hospital food doesn't seem to agree with me," she groaned.

"When did you eat hospital food?"  
Something connected deep within Fred's brain. "That's why I didn't get any lunch! I thought the nurses were on strike or something! You ate my food, Mystique?"

"And I wish I hadn't."

"Should I go back?" Lance asked.  
"No! Just take me home, before--"

BLEAH!  
"Too late."

THE END?

(Mystique: God, I hope so!)


End file.
